It is known to provide a cooking device, specifically a microwave oven, that is preprogrammed to heat or cook a predetermined type of food, such as popcorn. This device has a start button which, when depressed, causes the microwave oven to execute the predetermined cooking cycle. The food, popcorn in this case, is prepackaged in an amount that corresponds to the predetermined cooking time. This device is useful in establishments, such as bars, that provide a limited menu in that no programming of the microwave is required in order to prepare the food. This eliminates cooking time mistakes and food wastage.
While this device may be suitable for a narrow range of applications, the number of different types of foods that the establishment can offer is limited to only those that would be compatible with the one preprogrammed cooking cycle.
A problem that occurs in many home kitchens is a difficulty in properly programming the cooking device (microwave, oven, etc.) for a correct cooking time and temperature(s). This problem may be especially apparent in a household where adolescent and post-adolescent children are responsible for cooking in an unsupervised manner. That is, it is important that the child properly program the cooking time and temperature to avoid a possibility of fire and other hazards.
A further problem is presented when a person has difficulty in reading the cooking instructions that accompany a prepackaged food, either due to language differences or a physical impairment. This problem may be especially troublesome for many elderly persons, and in general for those persons with impaired vision.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved cooking apparatus that includes a sensor that is responsive to an indicia, such as a bar code that is placed on the packaging of a food, to control a cooking cycle in accordance with the indicia.